Corporate Traveller, the UK’s largest travel management company specialising in clients with an SME business travel spend of £50K to £2M, is launching ‘YOUR.CT’ a new travel technology platform designed purely to meet the needs of its customer base.

YOUR.CT gives bookers, travellers and managers a single access point, via their customised dashboard, to functionality and information that is relevant to their business travel needs. This includes pre-trip approval, booking options, profile management, traveller tracking, travel alerts, reports, invoice data and travel policy. The platform can be accessed via PC, tablet or mobile device.

In addition, Corporate Traveller is launching YOUR.CT MOBILE, a bespoke app fully integrated with YOUR.CT’s booking platform which gives travellers access to their flight and hotel bookings all in one place while they are on the move. Travellers can use the app for online check in, flight status alerts, weather forecasts, currency conversion and destination guides.

Depending on the type of user, YOUR.CT’s dashboard is configured to give instant access to:

• Approve and request – travellers can make requests easily and managers can give approval efficiently, helping to drive compliance and savings• Booking – YOUR.CT’s powerful new online booking solution is Seeqa which enables travellers and bookers to request, search and book flights, hotels, rail, car and other ancillary services. Navigation is easy and bookings can be completed within just a few clicks. Searches also take into account the traveller’s preferences and booking • Profile management – bookers can create and manage traveller profiles including passport details, frequent flyer numbers and dietary preferences• Traveller tracking – YOUR.CT’s state of the art risk map technology enables users to view where their travellers are in the world at any given time and effectively manage their safety. Key functionality includes a snapshot of travellers at risk by type, location and flight number; traveller location mapping and any critical alerts for those countries; forward trip monitoring identifying where travellers will be located next week, and 2+ weeks.• Travel alerts – travellers are kept up to date with notifications tailored to their itineraries• Travel policy – YOUR.CT gives travellers access to their company’s travel policy documents in order to drive policy understanding and compliance. Travel policies are also stored within Seeqa meaning travellers are automatically directed to make the most appropriate booking selection. • Reports – YOUR.CT gathers and stores reservation and financial data giving clients a high level spend breakdown via their dashboard. Users can see their company’s spend on airfares, hotels, car hire and rail tickets; they can view their top five airlines by spend; compare top 10 travellers by spend and number of tickets; view most frequently booked city pair destinations; view percentage of online bookings and overall adoption rate; and identify advance booking patterns. • Invoice data – bookers can quickly reference latest travel invoice data displayed on their YOUR.CT dashboard

Andy Hegley, UK General Manager, Corporate Traveller explains: “We are the only and longest-established TMC specialising purely in clients with an SME business travel spend of £50K to £2M per annum, meaning that we understand the nuances of their business travel requirements better than anyone else.

“Our approach to travel management is based around small teams of highly experienced travel consultants providing personal service, support and guidance to clients with an SME spend locally via our 20 offices across the UK. Each client is looked after by a dedicated travel consultant within the team who builds a close working relationship with that client and delivers exceptional customer service.

“But we also recognise our service-based business model can be complemented by technology in order to drive further efficiencies for our client base,” explains Hegley. “However, that technology needs to be tailored specifically to our clients’ needs in order to benefit, the booker, traveller and manager. That’s why we have invested heavily in developing YOUR.CT to give our clients the right type of technology that is easy to access, simple to use, and supports them with booking and managing travel costs and processes, as well as duty of care obligations. It’s about blending the appropriate mix of expert offline service, with technology solutions that are right for each client’s business.”

FCM Travel Solutions is launching a powerful and progressive new online booking solution, Seeqa, that gives travellers and bookers access to unparalleled travel options and functionality as it aggregates GDS, non-GDS and FCM’s proprietary content within one business travel eco-system.

Built on the Amadeus cytric platform, Seeqa allows FCM to develop an exclusive roadmap for the platform’s capabilities that includes integrating FCM’s own technology applications and bespoke content. The first step in evolving Seeqa’s functionality will be integration of FCM’s AI chatbot-based app Sam which supports business travellers with all aspects of travel throughout their trip. Integration of proprietary content, for example, includes FCM’s SmartStay hotel programme which gives clients access to unique added value benefits at over 5,000 properties worldwide.

Seeqa is fully integrated within FCM Connect, the travel management company’s suite of next-generation interconnected travel technology tools which was unveiled in September 2017. Travellers and bookers can access Seeqa via Connect’s ‘HUB’, a single sign-on gateway designed for easy interaction via PC, tablet or mobile device.

Navigation of Seeqa is easy and fast via a single interface enabling users to plan, book and purchase air, hotel, car, rail and other ancillary services within company policy with just a few clicks. Tight integration between Seeqa and other FCM Connect applications will ensure that booking flows are further optimised giving bookers and travellers a seamless user experience.

Over 900 settings mean Seeqa can be configured according to the corporate’s preferred suppliers, special rates and travel policies. These preferred travel options for flights, hotels, trains, low-cost suppliers or direct providers are available at a glance with no need to open multiple windows. Searches take into account the traveller’s personal booking history and overall comfort preferences. Users can also ‘speed book’ recurring flights and hotels in less than 30 seconds. Further developments will allow frequent trips to be booked directly via the traveller’s preferred channels, including HUB and Sam.

“In a fast-changing business travel environment, we recognise the need to continue to innovate our products and services and look ahead to the future needs of our clients, in order for FCM to stay at the forefront of the TMC sector,” said Marcus Eklund, Global General Manager, FCM Travel Solutions.

“Bookers and travellers need an online tool which is agile and easy to use, but also gives them access to the widest choice of travel content whilst still integrating within a company’s travel programme to maximise cost savings. As an end-to-end solution, Seeqa gives our clients optimised content and a full choice of booking options for all aspects of their business travel needs – mixing best public fares with negotiated rates and FCM proprietary content. Plus Seeqa has the best search engine currently available in the market and superior features in terms of functionality,” explained Eklund.

“However, FCM also needs an online booking tool that can evolve and flex with our own business developments. Whilst we will still

support stand-alone booking tools within our business, we will continue to drive towards omni-channel bookings, offering our clients the tools they need to suit their business,” Eklund said. “Seeqa allows us to build custom booking flows; the first of which is full integration in Sam. We will continue to integrate Seeqa into other components of FCM Connect so that travellers, bookers and arrangers can book all the content they need through mobile, chat, online or even directly in HUB. Our FCM Labs division is also working on additional functionality such as multi-office search functionality whereby the user can search fares on a certain route within Seeqa in multiple FCM countries to find the most cost-effective option.”

FCM Travel Solutions will officially launch Seeqa at the Business Travel Show in London on 21/22 February 2018.

A Summary of Seeqa’s Features & Benefits

Simplicity

Unique user interface and booking flows

Tight integration with Sam and other FCM Connect components

Personalisation

Frequently booked trips templates

Savings

Optimised content including unique FCM content

Multi-country air search (offering unparalleled access to the best fares)

NDC content

Insight

Travel arrangers can view multiple traveller searches/bookings in one go

Feb 09, 2018

Wings Urges Travel Managers To Plan For Post-Brexit During 2018 But Forecasts Positive Effect On Business Travel

Wings Travel Management is urging travel managers to start reviewing their travel programmes early in 2018 and focus on the direction their company’s business may have to move towards in terms of trading post-Brexit.

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Feb 09, 2018

Wings Urges Travel Managers To Plan For Post-Brexit During 2018 But Forecasts Positive Effect On Business Travel

Wings Travel Management is urging travel managers to start reviewing their travel programmes early in 2018 and focus on the direction their company’s business may have to move towards in terms of trading post-Brexit.

“Brexit will have a big impact on travel programmes and travel managers really need to start thinking about how their travel programme will look at the end of 2018,” warned Paul East, chief operating officer, UK/Europe & Americas, Wings Travel Management. “They need to be asking questions about which markets their company will be able to sell in, should they be opening up new markets, can we sell in existing markets?”

However, according to East, after a slow start to the year, once major decisions concerning borders and ‘passporting’ have been confirmed, Brexit will have a positive effect on global business travel as companies consider new markets, or seek to bolster existing contracts. UK domestic travel also has potential to increase off the back of the government’s plans to establish technology, research and development projects post-Brexit.

“Many UK manufacturers are looking at potentially expanding their exports in the USA and China, or they will need to meet face to face with current clients to ensure business continuity,” said East. “Corporates need to cover all bases which potentially means more business travel. As decisions are made by the government and plans become clearer, we could see business travel growth in the second half of 2018.”

Wings Travel Management is also forecasting an even greater focus on traveller safety, not only due to the ongoing threat of terrorism, but also geopolitical instability which will add to the complexities of business travel in 2018, making personal safety and duty of care a top priority for companies.

“The recent laptop ban on certain flights to the US, for example, and increased border controls, all make business travel more challenging for the traveller and could make companies think twice about whether an employee really needs to make a trip” says Paul East. “Personal safety will also be an increased priority for corporates if they are having to travel to new markets in order to generate new business deals post-Brexit. We are therefore encouraging our clients to make use of tools such as our goSecure risk management solution and VIMA mobile app.”

As a specialist travel provider for the energy sector, Wings forecasts that oil prices will continue to climb steadily in 2018, barring any major disruptive geopolitical influences. This would reignite investment in oil and gas exploration, which energy clients put on hold at the start of the energy sector downturn in 2014. As a result, Wings anticipates travel spend by oil and gas clients to increase by 2019.

“President Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate change agreement could also impact on refineries in the US. With less of a priority on greener energy, production by refineries could increase, impacting on supply and demand. In addition, Trump has controversially signed executive orders to allow the construction of new pipelines, creating more jobs in the oil sector. Whilst these are unpopular in terms of their impact on the environment and climate change, ultimately they could create more jobs in the oil sector, and generate more business travel.”

In terms of key destinations for 2018, Wings predicts expansion in Asia Pacific due to increased travel by banking and hedge fund corporates as well as manufacturing clients, combined with growth of the region’s own economy. Wings is already poised to capitalise on this growth after acquiring a major stake in Olympia Travels & Tours (S) Pte Ltd in Singapore last year. In addition, Mozambique, where Wings established operations in 2017, will also see increased traffic as the TMC’s energy sector clients move into this market following the discovery of some 85 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves, said to be the most significant find in a decade.

2017 was a landmark year for Wings. In addition to the acquisition in Singapore of Olympia Travels & Tours and the launch of operations in Mozambique, the company celebrated its 25th anniversary. Founded in 1992 by CEO Tony Sofianos, the TMC’s global reach has grown from humble beginnings with one office in Johannesburg, to become a US$325M global provider of travel and support services, headquartered in London, with 16 wholly owned and managed operations in North America, South America, UK/Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia.

Feb 09, 2018

Air India Flies High

The airline rankings in Heathrow’s latest ‘Fly Quiet and Green’ report, reveals that Air India has topped the list.

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Feb 09, 2018

Air India Flies High

The airline rankings in Heathrow’s latest ‘Fly Quiet and Green’ report, reveals that Air India has topped the list (attached), *source www.heathrowflyquietandgreen.com.

Effective 20th of February 2018 Air India is pleased to introduce twice weekly, nonstop flights from Birmingham to Amritsar, home to the Golden Temple, on its new generation Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft..

The national Indian carrier also operates nonstop flights from London Heathrow to Ahmedabad, four times a week.

Air India is the only airline from the UK to operate nonstop services on these routes.

Buyers can find Air India on Stand B220AI at the Business Travel Show, which takes place 21-22 February 2018 at London Olympia.

Feb 08, 2018

mdtravel Launches dérive

mdtravel Launches dérive

There are several corporate booking tools on the market, but none like dérive: the online corporate travel management solution that meets the specific needs of pharmaceutical and biotech executives, physicians and patients.

Launched this week by mdtravel (part of mdgroup), a specialist travel management company for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, dérive is a total business travel management solution, offering healthcare travellers greater convenience, while reducing costs and compliance complications for companies.

dérive centralises and streamlines the booking process, offering travellers 24/7 access to flights, trains, transfers and accommodation at discounted rates. Fees are based on a per booking basis, so clients only pay for the services they require and that comply with company travel policies.

dérive: enhancing Pharma’s corporate travel experience

Commenting on the launch, Eloise Moffett, Business Development Manager, mdtravel states:

“dérive delivers a better corporate travel experience for healthcare and pharma executives and their employers. The name dérive reflects the traveller-centric nature of the booking solution and our traffic light system ensures compliance with corporate travel policies.”

Tarquin Scadding-Hunt, mdgroup CEO says: “Our goal is to simplify our clients’ travel management at every stage. With dérive, we’re helping clients manage travel-related bookings and costs, while providing peace of mind with live employee tracking and 24-hour support services".

Email eloise.moffett@mdetravel.com to find out what dérive can do for your business.

Feb 08, 2018

More Businesses Look For ABTA Membership When Selecting A Travel Management Company

New research released ahead of the Business Travel Show (21-22 February), finds over four in five managers say that membership of ABTA is important or very important when they select a travel management company.

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Feb 08, 2018

More Businesses Look For ABTA Membership When Selecting A Travel Management Company

New research¹, released ahead of the Business Travel Show (21-22 February), finds over four in five (84%) managers say that membership of ABTA is important or very important when they select a travel management company (TMC). This is up from 82% in 2017, and is even higher than the 74% of the general public who regard ABTA membership as essential or important when booking a holiday².

According to the research, managers at companies with an annual turnover of £50-99.99 million especially value ABTA membership, with over nine in ten (91%) stating that membership was very important or important when selecting a TMC. Similarly, 92% of companies with 50-99 employees took the same view.

Using a TMC that is a Member of ABTA is also particularly important for business owners (86%) and directors (87%).

Booking business travel through an ABTA Member allows corporate managers to book with confidence, knowing that their travel provider has passed ABTA’s financial fitness tests, including minimum capital requirements, balance sheet net asset strength and financial security requirements (where applicable) and that it follows ABTA’s Code of Conduct.

ABTA Members also benefit from a wide range of support services including crisis support and 24/7 operational bulletins about incidents and travel news that may affect their customers in the UK and overseas, all services that they can use to support their clients.

ABTA is one of the UK’s most recognised travel brands and has been voted a Business Superbrand for the last eleven years. 37 of the 50 largest TMCs are ABTA Members and a further 182 ABTA Members count business travel as their principal business.

Victoria Bacon, ABTA Director of Brand and Business Development said:

“More and more business travel buyers see membership of ABTA as important or very important when choosing a TMC and it is a particular priority for directors and business owners. The fact that so many companies look for the ABTA logo when choosing a TMC is testament to the high standards and services that our Members deliver.

“ABTA provides a wide range of services and support both to our Members and their customers, and we remain firmly committed to developing and improving our offer for consumers and business travellers.”

ABTA staff will be at the Business Travel Show on stand B2304 to meet current and prospective ABTA Members and corporate travel managers to discuss the benefits of ABTA membership.

Feb 08, 2018

Kings Ferry Connections Unveil A Fresh New Look At Business Travel Show

Kings Ferry Connections are unveiling a brand new look at this year’s Business Travel Show! Hosted by the team of Business Transport Management Specialists.

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Feb 08, 2018

Kings Ferry Connections Unveil A Fresh New Look At Business Travel Show

Celebrate the grand unveiling with FREE cocktails, a magician and your chance to WIN an Apple Mac Book Pro - www.coachhireconnections.co.uk/btshow

Kings Ferry Connections are unveiling a brand new look at this year’s Business Travel Show! Hosted by the team of Business Transport Management Specialists, stand B165 will be centre stage, showcasing a fully managed and comprehensive Business Transport Management service that includes the company’s access to the UK’s leading and largest network of audited operators, innovative technological advances and a transport experience dedicated to client satisfaction.

Connections is a specialist division within The Kings Ferry and National Express Groups, offering new and existing clients access to a nationwide business transport solution. With access to both The Kings Ferry fleet and the UK’s largest, fully audited network of operators – we can provide you and your business, fully managed transport at exceptional value for money. We also have the ability to provide our clients with a wide choice of vehicle types from: standard, executive and VIP, through to disabled access and sizes ranging from cars, luggage vans, mini coaches through to double decker vehicles via our approved suppliers.

Here at Connections, we have a strong commitment to safety and the environment, and have invested heavily in training to ensure that the whole team fully understand and buy into the policies and procedures that have been adopted. Our “Driving without Harm” scheme, which is part of a nationwide program, provides safety training for drivers, engineers and staff on our sites – so you will always be safe in the knowledge that all of our transport options meet the stringent standards that you, our clients expect.

With a professional team on hand 24/7 to guide you through the Connections process, not only do you receive unquestionable value for money, but you also have a stress and hassle free experience: Organising your business transport has never been so easy. Our team of experts will deal with your transport requirements from enquiry through to debrief - we do all the work, so you don’t have to.

Once your journey with us is underway, our innovative technologies including real time MI reporting will enhance the way in which you organise all your business transport needs. With a bespoke booking platform available for both you and your team, you will have the unique ability to request quotes, make bookings, or check existing booking details, including transfers, at the click of a button, any day or night.

‘We are extremely proud to be unveiling the new look for Kings Ferry Connections - we’ve taken

on-board customer feedback over the last 12 months to create a unique, innovative, business transport proposition that is at the heart of our customer’s needs. Our focus remains to offer a safe, reliable and cost effective fully managed transport solution whilst improving the end user experience.’

Ben Bhattal – Commercial Director, The Kings Ferry

Our sophisticated and diverse transport service goes hand in hand with our bold new look – giving you full confidence that no matter what your requirements, we can deliver you a complete, client focused solution. Any vehicle, anytime, anywhere.

Air Canada To Exhibit Virtual Reality Experience At Business Travel Show 2018

Air Canada To Exhibit Virtual Reality Experience At Business Travel Show 2018

Air Canada will exhibit its virtual reality experience at the Business Travel Show 2018. The VR headset simulates the enhanced experience of flying onboard its Boeing 787 Dreamliner at ground-level and enables Air Canada to showcase its Canadian hospitality to corporate travel professionals through the magic of an interactive, virtual tour.

“Air Canada embraces technology and innovation, and we’re always looking for new ways to engage our important corporate travel partners,” said Stephen Gerrard, General Manager Sales, UK and Ireland. “Our VR experience demonstrates Air Canada’s pride in bringing Canada to the world, every time it flies, whilst helping travel professionals gain a quality understanding of our product and services”.

The “Oculus” VR headset and touch controllers allow virtual passengers to fully immerse themselves in the Air Canada experience. With the headset on and controls in hand, the journey begins with an overview of Air Canada’s global route network followed by an exploration of the airline’s new livery, introduced in 2017.

The narrative continues as users can explore all three cabins of service: Economy, Premium Economy and International Business Class. Once seated, tray tables, EnRoute in-flight magazine and entertainment handsets are just some of the elements that can be touched, opened and moved, guided by the voice of a flight attendant. Amenities including noise cancellation headphones that play music also add an element of fun.

Continuing the service, the food and drink menu appears with available options. After selecting one of the enticing dishes, the table is set, the dinner service begins, and wine or water is poured, depending on the user’s selection. Photogrammetry is used to capture and recreate the exclusive onboard food in fine detail.

Buyers can find Air Canada at stand B710 at the Business Travel Show, which takes place 21-22 February 2018 at London’s Olympia. Visitor registration is open now at www.businesstravelshow.com.

Feb 07, 2018

Eight Start-ups To Battle It Out For 2018 Disrupt Award As Online Voting Opens

Eight start-ups have been unveiled as exhibitors in this year’s Business Travel Show Launchpad and contenders for the Business Travel Disrupt Award final, which will take place at the Business Travel Show at 2pm, Thursday 22 February.

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Feb 07, 2018

Eight Start-ups To Battle It Out For 2018 Disrupt Award As Online Voting Opens

Eight start-ups have been unveiled as exhibitors in this year’s Business Travel Show Launchpad and contenders for the Business Travel Disrupt Award final, which will take place at the Business Travel Show at 2pm, Thursday 22 February.

All eight disruptors have been selected to exhibit in the Launchpad for their game-changing business travel solutions, which range from one-click booking and managing business travel spending to meeting place solutions and predictive flight delay.

Following a public online vote, they will be whittled down a shortlist of five, who will pitch to the judges in the Business Travel Disrupt Award final. The industry is invited to vote online at http://www.businesstravelshow.com/whats-on/disrupt-awards and voting closes on Monday 12 February.

The start-ups are:

AMAZE - a back-office solution that helps to improve visibility over business travel spending.

Arbitrip - an online booking tool that helps travel managers and business travellers book and manage hotel stays.

Flightsayer – a solution that predicts flight delays hours to weeks before departure empowering travellers to make better itinerary choices and respond effectively to potential disruptions.

“Being at the Business Travel Show, and then winning the Disrupt Award, gave FairFly great exposure and helped us establish many meaningful relationships with customers, as well as fruitful partnerships within the industry,” commented Gili Lichtmann, co-founder, VP sales and marketing, FairFly (last year’s Disrupt Award winner).

David Chapple, event director, Business Travel Show commented: “Each of the nine start-ups that will be exhibiting in Launchpad have been carefully chosen for their potential to disrupt the industry. There’s a quite diverse mix of solutions this year but there is a common theme with all of them: helping businesses and travel managers save time and resources and carry out their jobs more effectively. Visitors to Business Travel Show will be amongst the first to meet these companies and discover their transformative solutions.”

Spendesk Raises €8 Million To Expand Its Platform For All Company Purchases

Spendesk, a fintech solution that helps businesses manage their spending, has raised an €8 million Series A round led by Index Ventures, with participation from existing investors.

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Feb 07, 2018

Spendesk Raises €8 Million To Expand Its Platform For All Company Purchases

Spendesk, a fintech solution that helps businesses manage their spending, has raised an €8 million Series A round led by Index Ventures, with participation from existing investors. The funds will be used to accelerate product development and expand across Europe.

Founded in 2016 and based in Paris, Spendesk rethinks the way employees make company purchases and the way businesses manage all expenses. Instead of wasting time on painful expense reports, tedious approval processes and sharing of company credit cards, Spendesk has developed an innovative solution that gives businesses all the control they require and employees the autonomy they need to get the job done.

Spendesk addresses a widespread frustration faced by all types of businesses: making and processing a simple payment can be an administrative burden for both operational and finance teams. According to research by JP Morgan, an employee waits on average 17.2 days to complete a purchase, costing €57 per transaction in lost productivity with a traditional process.[1] “In most companies, expense management and team purchases are handled with outdated, paper-based processes. Booking a plane ticket online, paying at a restaurant or settling a supplier invoice are frequent and essential actions that should be as easy as checking your inbox,” says Rodolphe Ardant, Spendesk co-founder and CEO.

Employees of Spendesk clients use the SaaS solution to make purchase requests, instantly access virtual cards to pay online or scan their receipts when paying in-person with their prepaid Mastercard® card. They have full autonomy within the pre-defined company’s spending limits and benefit from transparent approval flows. Finance teams monitor spending in real time and have immediate visibility over all company spending. They save time on repetitive bookkeeping tasks by automating receipt recovery and VAT extraction. All payments are instantly categorised, matched with invoices and exported into the company’s accounting software. Spendesk clients do away with the time-consuming and loathed expense reports and the need for managing reimbursements.

Since its inception, Spendesk has grown rapidly, adding new features and new clients at a record speed. With more than €40 million spent through the Spendesk platform, its SaaS solution has already been adopted by more than 600 companies across Europe in less than 12 months. "Our ambition is to create the perfect tool for finance teams to handle all their payment workflows. Ultimately, finance departments should only use their bank account, their accounting software and Spendesk," says Ardant.

“Spendesk has created a seamless product that their customers love, which is not an easy task when you talk about expenses,” said Dominique Vidal, partner at Index Ventures, a venture capital firm that has backed many leading fintech companies including Adyen, Funding Circle and Robinhood. “Whilst many other solutions have digitised the expense management process, Spendesk has built an entirely new workflow to manage spending across the company.”

This funding round is led by Index Ventures with the participation of business angels such as Michael Benabou, co-founder of Vente Privée, Laurent Asscher and Showpad cofounders - Louis Jonckheere and Pieterjan Bouten - and comes just 12 months after a seed round of €2 million in January 2017, bringing the total amount raised to €10million.

Spendesk will be exhibiting on stand B1300 at the Business Travel Show.

Feb 06, 2018

Advantage Travel Partnership At BTS 2018

ADVANTAGE Travel Partnership, the UK’s largest independent travel agent group, will see its business travel division, led by Global Product Director Neil Armorgie, out in force at BTS 18.

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Feb 06, 2018

Advantage Travel Partnership At BTS 2018

Introducing the Advantage Village and launch of White Paper

ADVANTAGE Travel Partnership, the UK’s largest independent travel agent group, will see its business travel division, led by Global Product Director Neil Armorgie, out in force at BTS 18. New this year there will be an Advantage Village, a one-stop-shop for corporate buyers, travel management companies (TMC) and Advantage business travel members. In addition, the show will serve as the launchpad for a new White Paper entitled “Man & Machine: Harnessing Technology to Empower Your People”, summarising the findings from the business travel sessions held at the Advantage conference last year and the Advantage Business Travel Symposium event held in November.

Fifteen members of the business travel and conference and events teamswill base themselves at the Advantage Village for the duration of the show; as well as Neil Armorgie, Group Commercial & Membership Director Paula Lacey; Managing Director, Julia Lo Bue-Said and Head of Business Travel Sonia Michaels will be in attendance. Five of Advantage’s business travel members will also exhibit at the Village.

The company will be showcasing to corporate buyers the advantages of utilising the travel management services of an Advantage business travel member and also promoting the benefits of Advantage membership to non-member TMCs visiting or exhibiting at the show. Existing Advantage members have the opportunity to conduct their own meetings on the stand, an added benefit the consortium offers its network to take advantage of during the two days.

In addition to heading up Advantage’s business travel division Neil Armorgie is also CEO of the WIN Global Travel Network. WIN provides the opportunity to share international business travel accounts and data consolidation across an extensive global network of travel management companies in 70 countries. Last year, it was announced that Advantage had increased its shareholding in WIN to 95% and BTS 18 will give the opportunity to promote the benefits of WIN, to both corporate buyers and TMCs.

Advantage and WIN will host a session on Wednesday 21st at 14h30 for a breakout business session entitled ‘Choosing a travel management company and other partners.’ WIN‘s newly appointed International Partnership Manager John Hobbs-Hurrell will present the session, with Neil Armorgie moderating and Advantage member Mick Gibbs of Norad Travel Group and Mike Davidson of international WIN USA partner Hess Corporate Travel contributing.

Advantage Global Product Director and WIN CEO Neil Armorgie said: “Advantage Business Travel will certainly have a strong presence at BTS, not only with our new Advantage Village but also through members exhibiting on their own stands.

“BTS is a fantastic platform for Advantage to raise our profile within the business travel community. Membership of Advantage gives independent TMCs a powerful and respected voice in the travel industry, recognised by suppliers and customers alike and we will be open to new member enquiries and discussion but recruitment will not be our sole focus. We will be engaging with buyers and extolling the virtues of our TMC members who are each independently owned but have strength through their collective membership of Advantage and can offer inspirational, personalised service and affordable travel products, with all the financial protection you would expect of an organisation of our size. Finally, at BTS we offer our members exhibiting in the Advantage Village meeting facilities, technology demos of our in-house tools for prospective clients and corporate support if required.”

Feb 06, 2018

Anvil Launches New Medical Assistance Service To Provide A Joined-Up Response To Medical, Security and Travel Risk Related Incidents For Globally Mobile Organisations

Anvil Launches New Medical Assistance Service To Provide A Joined-Up Response To Medical, Security and Travel Risk Related Incidents For Globally Mobile Organisations

Global travel and operational risk company, Anvil Group, today officially announced the launch of its in-house medical assistance service, Anvil Assist. This significant investment by Anvil makes it the only provider to offer clinician-delivered medical assistance as part of a fully integrated in-house end-to-end risk management solution.

Based out of Anvil’s existing global operations centre in the UK, Anvil Assist provides multilingual 24/7 medical and security assistance for clients wherever they may be. With more incidents now demanding a coordinated medical, security and travel response, Anvil’s comprehensive in-house service is designed to cover any event that could impact the health, safety or wellbeing of a corporate traveller or expatriate.

Matthew Judge, Anvil’s Group Managing Director comments, “Exceptional care is about individuals not case numbers. That’s why Anvil now operates the only fully clinician-delivered medical assistance service, underpinned by an independent network of clinical facilities. For Anvil clients, this means that their people will always speak directly to a trained medical professional when they need to, and have access to the highest quality care wherever they are in the world.”

He continues, “Having partnered with medical assistance providers for many years, we understand how important this service is for clients. However, clients are now demanding a far more joined-up approach to medical and security assistance provision and rightly so. It’s taken a significant investment for us to bring our own clinicians on board, but it’s something we are passionate about doing and we’re extremely proud of the service we can now provide.”

An extension to Anvil’s existing global operations hub, the emergency response centre is staffed round-the-clock by a multilingual team of highly qualified and experienced first responders and clinical professionals. They directly manage all medical cases – from pre-deployment screening and clearance to travel, initial diagnosis and local treatment to repatriation and post-travel care.

The highly skilled team is headed up by Dr Juliane Kause BSc, MBBS, FRCP, AKC. A Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, Dr Kause is a specialist in acute and critical care medicine and a founder member of the international Society for Rapid Response Systems. She also has over 20 years’ experience as an aeromedical physician.

Matthew Judge comments on the appointment, "We're thrilled to have Juliane on board as our Chief Medical Officer. Her critical care and medical management experience will help us to deliver a service that really is second to none.”

Anvil’s decision to bring medical assistance in-house is enabling the provider to now offer clients a far more connected approach to medical and security assistance provision. It also allows Anvil to ensure that they are offering clients the very best possible care, not just during an incident but afterwards. Anvil is the only medical assistance provider to offer post-care, ensuring individuals who have experienced medical issues abroad or been caught up in a major incident are mentally and physically well, and able to successfully complete their treatment and return to work.

Judge concludes, “With over 30 years’ experience, Anvil has encountered virtually every assistance scenario imaginable. By making medical assistance part of our core in-house service, clients can now receive an even faster joined-up response that returns their people to health and restores business as usual as soon as possible.”